Darkroom Familia

Darkroom Familia

Biography

Darkroom started with black & white cassette singles, selling them out of the trunk, all over the Bay Area and Northern California. They eventually made enough noise to secure distribution through Oakland's now-defunct Music People (home to many successful Bay Area rap artists including: Cougnut, IMP, Richie Rich, 415, RBL Posse, Chunk, Totally Insane, Master P, TRU, Dre Dog/Andre Nickatina, etc.). Throughout the '90s, Darkroom Familia toured regionally and all over the country, performing alongside E-40, Too $hort, Ice Cube, Rodney O & Joe Cooley, 2nd II None, R. Kelly, Black Sheep, The Coup, The Conscious Daughters, Zapp & Roger, to name a few. They continued releasing albums but their first real hit was "From The Barrio With Love," which led them to sign with Sunset Blvd./Warner Bros. Records for the major label release of the album. One of the executives at the label, asked Darkroom to join him on his new label, Explicit Entertainment.

After recording six albums for Explicit, Darkroom was being pursued by Dogday Records, who had just sold an impressive 75,000 albums of 11/5's "Fiendin' For The Funk." Darkoom's only intention were to become the biggest and first Latino super group. Their plan was to release a movie and soundtrack at the same time. A salivating Dogday Records eagerly signed them. Darkroom Familia was now label-mates with Andre Nickatina, 11/5 and The Coup. They signed for a very brief period, only releasing six albums. After their contractual obligations were over, Darkroom decided to stay independent and signed a distribution deal with City Hall Records.

Darkroom Familia's "Penitentiary Chances" was the first film released and distributed by Bay Area rappers and has now reached cult-status, along with their other film "Veteranos." Darkroom Familia made the cover of Murder Dog hip hop magazine. They were the first Northern Cali Latin rappers to have that honor. They have also appeared in numerous publications including Lowrider Magazine, The Source, Rap Pages, Billboard, 4080 Hip Hop Magazine, XXL, Rap Sheet, BAM and many more. Since the late '90s, they continued making films and have now released over 17 films to date. They have worked with such actors as: Jesse Borrego ("Blood In Blood Out," "Con Air," "Mi Vida Loca," Fox TV's "24"), Angel Aviles ("Desperado," "Mi Vida Loca), Todd Bridges ("Everybody Hates Chris," "Diff'rent Strokes"), Wee-Man ("Jackass") and more. Though most of their films are gritty, action-packed stories, they've also done their fair share of horror films and comedy; most notably the "I Got Five On It" franchise (which has become the "Friday" of the 2000s). During the last 20 plus years, they have released over 100 albums to date. They are currently signed with City Hall Records, home to Mac Dre and Thizz Entertainment.

Thanks to a loyal and dedicated worldwide fanbase, Darkroom have sold 300,000 plus albums. Darkroom Familia has gained fans as close as San Francisco/Oakland and as far away as Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Austria, Australia, The United Kingdom, Russia, Ukraine, Yugoslavia, Spain, Poland, Japan, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, Italy, Finland and Bavaria. Darkroom Familia continues to release their trademark sound and independent feature-length films that fans have come to love.